If I buy a return ticket (saver or flex) now, and then modify the return flight (date) in the future, does the (potential) repricing only apply to the return leg component, or does it affect both outbound and inbound? (And worse still, does it then decide "Sorry, not savers now, only flex, outbound and inbound"?)

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Can the outbound leg of the ticket be upgraded after purchase, and still hold if modifying the return leg as described above?


Thanks in advance to the great minds here - hopefully a simple (and not frustrating) answer is forthcoming to slow my hair loss.

Pretty sure if you make changes BEFORE taking the outbound it ALL reprices. Changing the inbound after flying the outbound may involve "historical" fares... but I am not an expert... Lets wait for one!

can impact, for example, if you book a J saver with Y flex plus (then you upgrade the y flex plus to J) you get the more restricted fare conditions if your return then goes beyond what a J saver would allow and it reprices the whole ticket as j flex

Thanks for the info so far, even though it's not what I want to hear!


For context, selecting/changeing dates isn't the problem ... the reason for the questions is that I'd rather book once bookings are open, but it's a long gap between outbound and inbound (3 months) - so ...

Would prefer to grab fares before buckets are empty, upgrades before they vanish, and nice seats before they're taken, of course, not to mention trying to co-ordinate with getting bookings on other airlines for connections (including points bookings which vanish soon after 365 days out).

Sadly, EK don't seem to offer sensible one-way pricing, unlike some airlines, otherwise I'd just grab two one-ways.

(Pity there isn't such a thing as being able to book a return flight with a confirmed departure date under 365 days ahead, and, say, a set date for the return, even though it's over a year away ... that way they'd still have my money, for even longer, and I wouldn't have all the worry! )

BTW: The fares would be J (with just enough points in the "family pool" to upgrade one way from standard flex, if my calculations are correct, and if you can do that from the family pool ... but's upgrades are less important than airfares and seats!)

I'm not sure if / how this might help, but I generally have long gaps between outbound and return flights. It has to do with fare differences between different markets, but that's another story.

I normally fly J, sometimes F if I can get a good 'deal' and never Y (fingers crossed...)
What I do is book the outgoing in J, preferably Saver and the return in Y Flex+. At that stage I have a vague idea of when I will fly the inbound leg, but it can easily vary by a week or two. It is often 5 or 6 months after the outbound, hence the planning uncertainty. Once I know when I want to return, I change the Y Flex+ date (no charge fee because it is a Flex+) and then upgrade it to J (again Saver if it is available). The cost of that is just the fare difference as it was when I booked the original ticket. As I get closer to the return flight I start trying out what the cost is for a further upgrade to F (Flex, 'A' fare bucket). A few times, I have been pleasantly surprised, otherwise I just stay in J (and am perfectly OK with that). If I add up the three lots of money I have given to EK (original Y Flex+, upgrade to J, upgrade to F) it is still a bit eye-watering, but it does not seem to feel so bad. I call it the 'salami method' of flying F'. Small slices at a time. As a bonus, collecting the extra (tier) miles for F has helped me to get to / maintain Gold once or twice.

Thanks thijsseh,
That sounds like it might be the solution I'm looking for (especially if there's not a big penalty for a "change" which isn't really down to me wanting to change, merely the result of booking early).
I'll try to visit this thread again from time to time, to update as and when I proceed, in case its of use to anyone else.

I've done similar to this in the past when I've called them pre-booking, described my predicament and had them agree to put a note on the ticket that I would get one free date change for when my preferred return date opened up.

It was a few years ago and I can't recall all the details but it was for similar reasons to you that I wanted to grab cheaper fares on their release for peak dates on the outbound before they were all gone.

Thanks for the tip ... had wondered whether I should try something like that, but didn't fancy my chances. Probably depends on who takes the call. Need someone competent and kind. Fingers crossed!